diff --git a/include/sys/dsl_dataset.h b/include/sys/dsl_dataset.h
index d6da5dcfdb9f..da6f21c2eeff 100644
--- a/include/sys/dsl_dataset.h
+++ b/include/sys/dsl_dataset.h
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ int dsl_dataset_own_obj(struct dsl_pool *dp, uint64_t dsobj,
 void dsl_dataset_disown(dsl_dataset_t *ds, void *tag);
 void dsl_dataset_name(dsl_dataset_t *ds, char *name);
 boolean_t dsl_dataset_tryown(dsl_dataset_t *ds, void *tag);
+int dsl_dataset_namelen(dsl_dataset_t *ds);
 uint64_t dsl_dataset_create_sync(dsl_dir_t *pds, const char *lastname,
     dsl_dataset_t *origin, uint64_t flags, cred_t *, dmu_tx_t *);
 uint64_t dsl_dataset_create_sync_dd(dsl_dir_t *dd, dsl_dataset_t *origin,
diff --git a/include/sys/fs/zfs.h b/include/sys/fs/zfs.h
index 4da144c724ab..57bf55f9365f 100644
--- a/include/sys/fs/zfs.h
+++ b/include/sys/fs/zfs.h
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ typedef enum dmu_objset_type {
 #define	ZAP_MAXNAMELEN 256
 #define	ZAP_MAXVALUELEN (1024 * 8)
 #define	ZAP_OLDMAXVALUELEN 1024
+#define	ZFS_MAX_DATASET_NAME_LEN 256
 
 /*
  * Dataset properties are identified by these constants and must be added to
diff --git a/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c b/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c
index a194b8b57e28..da980cfd4f41 100644
--- a/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c
+++ b/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c
@@ -1891,7 +1891,12 @@ zpool_import_props(libzfs_handle_t *hdl, nvlist_t *config, const char *newname,
 			    "one or more devices are already in use\n"));
 			(void) zfs_error(hdl, EZFS_BADDEV, desc);
 			break;
-
+		case ENAMETOOLONG:
+			zfs_error_aux(hdl, dgettext(TEXT_DOMAIN,
+			    "new name of at least one dataset is longer than "
+			    "the maximum allowable length"));
+			(void) zfs_error(hdl, EZFS_NAMETOOLONG, desc);
+			break;
 		default:
 			(void) zpool_standard_error(hdl, error, desc);
 			zpool_explain_recover(hdl,
diff --git a/module/zfs/dsl_dataset.c b/module/zfs/dsl_dataset.c
index a06388566e4f..7124f3d6a83c 100644
--- a/module/zfs/dsl_dataset.c
+++ b/module/zfs/dsl_dataset.c
@@ -665,6 +665,17 @@ dsl_dataset_name(dsl_dataset_t *ds, char *name)
 	}
 }
 
+int
+dsl_dataset_namelen(dsl_dataset_t *ds)
+{
+	int len;
+	VERIFY0(dsl_dataset_get_snapname(ds));
+	mutex_enter(&ds->ds_lock);
+	len = dsl_dir_namelen(ds->ds_dir) + 1 + strlen(ds->ds_snapname);
+	mutex_exit(&ds->ds_lock);
+	return (len);
+}
+
 void
 dsl_dataset_rele(dsl_dataset_t *ds, void *tag)
 {
diff --git a/module/zfs/spa.c b/module/zfs/spa.c
index 4468cdf88a99..a220ae393ea8 100644
--- a/module/zfs/spa.c
+++ b/module/zfs/spa.c
@@ -1974,6 +1974,16 @@ spa_load_verify_cb(spa_t *spa, zilog_t *zilog, const blkptr_t *bp,
 	return (0);
 }
 
+/* ARGSUSED */
+int
+verify_dataset_name_len(dsl_pool_t *dp, dsl_dataset_t *ds, void *arg)
+{
+	if (dsl_dataset_namelen(ds) >= ZFS_MAX_DATASET_NAME_LEN)
+		return (SET_ERROR(ENAMETOOLONG));
+
+	return (0);
+}
+
 static int
 spa_load_verify(spa_t *spa)
 {
@@ -1988,6 +1998,14 @@ spa_load_verify(spa_t *spa)
 	if (policy.zrp_request & ZPOOL_NEVER_REWIND)
 		return (0);
 
+	dsl_pool_config_enter(spa->spa_dsl_pool, FTAG);
+	error = dmu_objset_find_dp(spa->spa_dsl_pool,
+	    spa->spa_dsl_pool->dp_root_dir_obj, verify_dataset_name_len, NULL,
+	    DS_FIND_CHILDREN);
+	dsl_pool_config_exit(spa->spa_dsl_pool, FTAG);
+	if (error != 0)
+		return (error);
+
 	rio = zio_root(spa, NULL, &sle,
 	    ZIO_FLAG_CANFAIL | ZIO_FLAG_SPECULATIVE);